1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an oil chamber wall. In particular, the disclosure relates to a structural wall within a sealed oil chamber. The oil chamber may be used in a gas turbine engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A turbofan gas turbine engine 10, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises in flow series an intake 11, a fan 12, an intermediate pressure compressor 13, a high pressure compressor 14, a combustion chamber 15, a high pressure turbine 16, an intermediate pressure turbine 17, a low pressure turbine 18 which are all rotatable about a principal axis of rotation 31, and an exhaust 19. The high pressure turbine 16 is arranged to drive the high pressure compressor 14 via a first shaft 20. The intermediate pressure turbine 17 is arranged to drive the intermediate pressure compressor 13 via a second shaft 21 and the low pressure turbine 18 is arranged to drive the fan 12 via a third shaft 22. In operation air flows into the intake 11 and is compressed by the fan 12. A first portion of the air flows through, and is compressed by, the intermediate pressure compressor 13 and the high pressure compressor 14 and is supplied to the combustion chamber 15. Fuel is injected into the combustion chamber 15 and is burnt in the air to produce hot exhaust gases which flow through, and drive, the high pressure turbine 16, the intermediate pressure turbine 17 and the low pressure turbine 18. The hot exhaust gases leaving the low pressure turbine 18 flow through the exhaust 19 to provide propulsive thrust. A second portion of the air bypasses the main engine and flows through a bypass duct 23 defined by a fan casing 24. The second portion of air leaving the bypass duct 23 flows through a bypass, or fan, nozzle 25 to provide propulsive thrust.
An important requirement within a gas turbine engine is to provide suitable lubrication to moving parts so as to prevent excessive wear and heat generation. One key area which requires a significant amount of lubrication is the bearings which provide the support for the aforementioned interconnecting shafts. Temperatures inside the bearing chamber of a gas turbine engine are typically very high. To prevent the engine overheating constant cooling is required which is provided by the flow of oil. However, oil will significantly degrade above 200° C. and it is important to maintain a steady and complete recirculation of oil to prevent a thermal accumulation and associated degradation within the bearing chamber.
Typically, a bearing is located within a bearing housing which has a through-flow of oil during operation to provide heat extraction and lubrication. The bearing chambers are connected to a recirculating oil system which cyclically scavengers hot oil, passes it through a cooling circuit and returns it to the bearing chamber. The present disclosure seeks to provide an oil chamber which can more reliably scavenge and recirculate oil to help prevent temperature related oil degradation.